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CFIF Judicial Nominations Scorecard

In the release reproduced here, the Center for Individual Freedom exposes 44 U.S. Senators as ‘Enemies of Justice’

 


 

 


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jeffrey Mazzella

703.535.5836

November 12, 2003

CFIF Exposes 44 U.S. Senators as ‘Enemies of Justice’
Releases Judicial Nominations Scorecard

Alexandria, Va. — As partisan animus continues to infect the judicial confirmation process in the U.S. Senate, the Center for Individual Freedom today released a judicial nominations scorecard for the first session of the 108th Congress.

The scorecard rates the votes of all 100 Senators on the 13 cloture motions introduced this year that would have allowed simple up or down votes on President Bush’s filibustered judicial nominees. Currently, the confirmations of five circuit court nominees, Priscilla Owen, Charles Pickering, Janice Rogers Brown, Bill Pryor and Carolyn Kuhl, are being filibustered — the obstructionist tactic used to drive Miguel Estrada, an American Bar Association-rated "well-qualified" nominee for the D.C. Circuit, to withdraw his name from consideration after being held in confirmation limbo for nearly two-and-a-half years.

"At a time when the federal judiciary is plagued by vacancies and mounting case loads, a minority of Senators is using ‘all means necessary’ to block those nominees who don’t conform to their ideological mold," said Jeffrey Mazzella, the Center’s Executive Director. "Traditional considerations of experience, judicial temperament and respect for the rule of law no longer matter. The obstructionists have sent their message loud and clear to all current and future nominees: Unless you pass their partisan litmus test, you won’t even get a confirmation vote on the Senate floor."

Forty-four Senators scored zero percent on the Center’s scorecard, signifying that they voted against all 13 cloture motions on the filibustered nominees. These Senators are:

Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
Max Baucus (D-MT)
Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Joseph Biden (D-DE)
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Thomas Carper (D-DE)
Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Jon Corzine (D-NJ)
Tom Daschle (D-SD)
Mark Dayton (D-MN)
Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Richard Durbin (D-IL)
John Edwards (D-NC)
Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Bob Graham (D-FL)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Ernest Hollings (D-SC)
Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Tim Johnson (D-SD)
Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
John Kerry (D-MA)
Herb Kohl (D-WI)
Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Carl Levin (D-MI)
Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Jack Reed (D-RI)
Harry Reid (D-NV)
John Rockefeller (D-WV)
Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)
Charles Schumer (D-NY)
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)

"These 44 enemies of justice have corrupted the independence of the federal judiciary and undermined the administration of justice for far too long," Mazzella added. "Their partisan antics should not and will not go unnoticed by the American people."

The Center for Individual Freedom is a nonpartisan constitutional advocacy group that fights to protect and defend individual freedoms and rights in the legal, legislative and educational arenas. Visit www.cfif.org for updates as the Center will continue to score all votes to end the filibusters.

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  • To download the Judicial Nominations scorecard, click here.


[Posted November 11, 2003]